Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Arthur Silbergeld, Esq. Anyone who works on a computer knows the sinking feeling that comes with hitting that nasty combination of keystrokes causing your machine to freeze. The fact that many companies now keep IT staff available around the clock just to help frantic employees get their misbehaving computers working, retrieve lost documents and […]
by Jeffrey S. Beck Most employers are aware that to meet the burden of establishing a discrimination claim under the indirect method (i.e., without “smoking gun” evidence of discriminatory intent), an employee must offer evidence that similarly situated individuals outside her protected class were treated more favorably. While that principle is well established, cases can […]
Employers have many issues to consider when writing employee leave policies. Questions such as, “How will time accrue?” “When do employees become eligible for leave?” and “Under what circumstances should employees be paid when on leave?” barely scratch the surface. But when the issue is bereavement leave, employers may feel they have more at stake […]
Tips are the property of the employee, whether or not that employee has taken a tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act. So states Labor Department Fact Sheet #15A, released by the Wage and Hour Division in February. The fact sheet reflects tip credit regulations DOL updated in May 2011. Under the regulation, an […]
As the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division steps up enforcement initiatives, the need for employers to monitor their wage and hour practices is growing. Speaking at the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2012 Employment Law and Legislative Conference March 5, Tammy McCutchen of Littler Mendelson in Washington, a former Bush appointee at DOL, […]
Never base a worker classification decision on uncertainty, according to attorney Christine Walters. Walters, a Maryland HR consultant presenting at the Society for Human Resource Management’s legislative conference in Washington, D.C., March 5, ticked off the many reasons employers might be inclined to classify a worker as an independent contractor. Among them: to avoid paying […]
Litigation value: $150,000. This isn’t Hooters, Dwight. Requiring Kathy to flirt with customers is sexual harassment. Additional damages if Todd Packer plays his sexual predator role as well as we suspect he can. “Bloggers are gross. Bloggers are obese. Bloggers have halitosis.” — Dwight Shrute Sticks and stones, Dwight. Sticks and stones. Dwight should be […]
by Craig L. Olivo Q: An exempt employee was out for a week. He had eight hours of accrued sick time, which he used before coming in and working two unauthorized hours at the end of the week. Are we required to pay him for the whole week? A: Generally, under the Fair Labor Standards […]
The Labor Department underestimated the cost of its proposal extending minimum wage and overtime protections to in-home caregivers underestimates, according to an industry group representing in-home care franchise owners. If the proposal is implemented as planned, the study concludes, both the quality of care provided to seniors and the financial health of the in-home care […]
The story of a Chicago woman fired from her job after she was caught working on her lunch break made national news earlier this year. It struck a chord with the general public because people were questioning why an employer would fire an employee for seemingly going the extra mile. If an employee is punished […]